BYM Camps - Catoctin Quaker Camp

Operated by:

Baltimore Yearly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends

Established:

1957

Office Location:

Baltimore Yearly Meeting

17100 Quaker Lane

Sandy Spring, MD 20860

Camp Location:

12611 Tower Road

Thurmont, MD 21788

Phone#:

Office: 301-774-7663    ~   Summer: 301-271-2156

Coed: X

Girls only: 

Boys only:  

Capacity:

80

Ages:

9-14

Session Dates:

Please see website at www.bym-rsf.org/camping

Please see website at www.bym-rsf.org/camping

Directors/Contact:

Please see website at www.bym-rsf.org/camping

Camp Homepage:

http://www.bym-rsf.org/camping

Contact E-mail:

Please see website at www.bym-rsf.org/camping

Program
Description:

Catoctin Quaker Camp lies just below the ridge of Catoctin Mountain in Maryland and is adjacent to protected state forests and the Frederick watershed. The nearest town is Thurmont, Maryland. 

Catoctin offers in-camp and trip experiences. Younger campers will be away from camp for shorter periods of time with less demanding activities than older campers. Trips may take them to various sections of Virginia, Maryland, West Virginia, and Pennsylvania. We backpack roads and trails; we canoe the Potomac, Rappahannock, and Shenandoah Rivers; and we give technical rock climbing instruction at several sites.

Activities in camp include swimming, arts and crafts, informal music and drama, low pressure athletics, and chores. Potters' wheels and a kiln are available. 

Spiritual development is nurtured through daily silent worship at the fire circle, regularly scheduled campfires, and in less formal ways by example and through continuous sharing of love.

All meals include a vegetarian and vegan alternative.

Baltimore Yearly Meeting's camping programs provide opportunities for spending extended time living in functioning Quaker communities that encourage tenderness, loving concern, dynamic activity, laughter, respect, work, honesty, silence, and joyful noise.

Our goal is to foster the kind of self-esteem that facilitates spiritual growth. Opportunities for such growth are created in the process of supporting campers through challenging experiences. Success in negotiating rapids or exploring artistic creativity offers a deeper strength from which to accept the challenge and risk of turning inward toward the Light. Typically, a camper goes home a more competent, confident person whose spiritual roots have deepened and whose ties to the broader Quaker community have strengthened.